Brand-Name Drugs Cost Medicare Billions

posted by John Johnson, Newser Staff
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3 years ago

(NEWSER) – So much money wasted, such a seemingly simple fix. A ProPublica investigation finds that a relatively small group of doctors costs taxpayers hundreds of millions dollars per year because they choose to prescribe pricey brand-name drugs to low-income Medicare patients instead of generic versions. Is it because they have hearts of gold and believe the brand-name versions will be better for their patients, despite evidence to the contrary? Maybe. Or it could be because "many of these physicians also have accepted thousands of dollars in promotional or consulting fees from drug companies," according to the story. The total lost to over-prescribing is well into the billions over eight years.